At the Movies with Kane and BN

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Respect

Easily in the top 5 most dramatic table flips.

Exactly what the trailer advertise, it's a formulaic music biopic (aside from some tiny fluoresces) that hits all the same notes that the general audiences are accustom to with biopics. It follows Aretha Franklin's life journey from childhood to music stardom along with her highs and lows in a pretty predictable fashion. I will say if anything, Jennifer Hudson did put her heart and soul into the performance as she carries through this slog of a movie. Because of how static a lot of the scenes are, it's almost got tv like direction that makes it feel like you're watching a Netflix series. Overall, probably below average which is a shame because someone like Aretha Franklin deserved something more original.
2/5
 
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The Protege

What If... Nick Fury took in Maggie Q instead of Natasha?

A somewhat above average B level action flick that does a great job on the action front and the chemistry between the main stars. It's exactly the kind of assassin movie that would have been made in the 90s by Luc Besson or Tony Scott. I thought Maggie Q did a great job especially when her plot really kicks in... and for a lesser action flick, her fight scenes are pretty incredible. Sam Jackson doesn't really do much other than be Sam Jackson. And not surprisingly, I really dug Michael Keaton chewing scenery and his stunt double kicking ass. There's some fun banter that kinda elevates it from being a basic run of the mill action flick. But all that being said, it's not something too memorable outside from a few scenes. Overall, it's worth seeing just for the action set pieces.
2.5/5
 
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They should have left the ending more ambiguous. Plus the way Moody's story played out at the end fell flat for me, wasn't satisfying at all. But overall the film was enjoyable, more so than other films I've seen this year.
 
They should have left the ending more ambiguous. Plus the way Moody's story played out at the end fell flat for me, wasn't satisfying at all. But overall the film was enjoyable, more so than other films I've seen this year.
Yeah when Sam Jackson came back it felt cheap. But overall, it's exactly the kind of movie you'd see on a lazy Sunday afternoon on tv.
 
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Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings


A pretty decent stand alone origin movie from Marvel which they haven't done in a while. They really did cram in a lot of Hong Kong cinema influences into this whether it be a wuxia fantasy epic or a triad crime thriller or even a Jackie Chan kung fu comedy under a MCU packaging. Destin Daniel Cretton did a phenomenal job directing this especially when he uses his indie cinema specialties at the first part of the film where it centers on Shang-Chi's life as a normal person living in San Francisco before all the fantasy elements come into play. Really liked Simu Liu who does a good job balancing light charm with serious family drama and they used Awkwafina well enough to make her more than just a comedy sidekick. Tony Leung really commands the screen even though I kinda wish there was more of those dinner scenes between Shang-Chi and Katy where they really delve into cultural identity. And I will say Meng'er Zhang who plays the daughter kinda steals the movie at points which I dig a lot. The fight choreography is better and more fluid than I was expecting and some of the CG does feel above average for a standard MCU movie. They do some much needed retcons that worked for me and the MCU connections are really interesting. My only major complaint has to be some of the writing where the exposition dumps gets repeated over and over. Overall, really solid stuff for an MCU movie that I wasn't too excited for going into it.
3.5/5
 
KATE

Mary Elizabeth Winstead

MEW kicking ass and taking names. Eh, this was a lot of fun. More importantly, this was a fun watch due to MEW in particular. She just brings it. She doesn't look out of place in her action scenes at all. Very few actresses can pull it off. This was filled with plenty of cliches of the genre, plenty of ones we've seen before when it comes to the 'female assassin' angle, but even still, this was a fun to watch. I'm also a sucka for the 'hot female assassin' genre, so this was for me. This is a worthy watch for Mew alone.


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Batman: The Long Halloween, Part One & Two

Pretty decent enough for an adaptation even though it falls into the same problems I have with a lot of the other DC animated features. Despite some changes that I wasn't a fan of (rip purple catsuit), the designs for all the characters are impressive even if it doesn't totally mimic Tim Sale's artwork. You can tell they worked a little harder on this one considering it's one of the defining Batman stories even though you still see the budget limitations like the animation and frame rate. As for the plot changes, there are some that I didn't mind like the Scarecrow bit or including Barbara Gordon, but there are others that kinda makes the story even more convoluted and contrive or not included at all like the Riddler bit and not caring about keeping Batman and Catwoman's identity a secret. Also not a big fan of the mostly flat dialogue even though I actually like the voice cast they got here. All that being said, it's obviously better than New 52 animated movies, but it doesn't quite reach the to the heights of the other Batman animated movies and the big changes they've made from the comic drags this down.
3/5
 
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The Card Counter


It's Paul Schrader doing what he does best. While the trailer might make this one out to be some sort of casino heist film like Ocean's Eleven, this is probably more in line with Schrader's two other films, First Reformed and Taxi Driver where it follows a dark and brooding character looking for something more (in this case Oscar Issac and poker). With the directing, music, and some of the plot, this also feels like a combination of Color of Money, Drive, and Nightcrawler. Don't want to give away too much, but the film is definitely a mood and aesthetic piece that drives the plot along with the deeper message once things get revealed, which to me checks a lot of my boxes. It's got an incredible Oscar Issac performance who is giving it his all without making it flashy. Tye Sheridan and Willem Dafoe were also great and while I dig Tiffany Haddish in here who's latching on to a more serious role, she wasn't quite up there with Oscar Issac's level of talent. Overall, while this film is definitely not for everyone while also being false advertised, the film is a phenomenal character study that has a lot of style to it while also having something to say. Easily one of the best films of the year.
4.5/5
 
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Malignant


The James Wan I knew from the Saw and Dead Silence days finally returned and delivered us a wild and crazy Giallo film. I was so glad to find out this isn't the same Conjuring/possession plot that we've seen in horror too many times in the last few years. This is indeed a tongue in cheek horror flick that does have some underlying message while also having fun with it. This will turn off a lot of people expecting a straightforward horror film from James Wan, but I'm glad he was able to experiment throw in some insane grindhouse/Giallo level insanity like Basket Case or Tenebrae. Annabelle Wallis does a great job delivering a campy over the top performance that fits perfectly with what's going on with the plot. The 3rd act really kicks it into high gear and it's what separates a lot of other horror movies these days and it is wild even though I guessed what the reveal was. While it's not perfect, there's a lot of rewatchability with the kills and certain moments that happen. Overall, it was probably the most fun I had at the theater watching a horror flick in a long time.
4/5
 
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The Card Counter


It's Paul Schrader doing what he does best. While the trailer might make this one out to be some sort of casino heist film like Ocean's Eleven, this is probably more in line with Schrader's two other films, First Reformed and Taxi Driver where it follows a dark and brooding character looking for something more (in this case Oscar Issac and poker). With the directing, music, and some of the plot, this also feels like a combination of Color of Money, Drive, and Nightcrawler. Don't want to give away too much, but the film is definitely a mood and aesthetic piece that drives the plot along with the deeper message once things get revealed, which to me checks a lot of my boxes. It's got an incredible Oscar Issac performance who is giving it his all without making it flashy. Tye Sheridan and Willem Dafoe were also great and while I dig Tiffany Haddish in here who's latching on to a more serious role, she wasn't quite up there with Oscar Issac's level of talent. Overall, while this film is definitely not for everyone while also being false advertised, the film is a phenomenal character study that has a lot of style to it while also having something to say. Easily one of the best films of the year.
4.5/5

Can't stop thinking about this movie. Kind of want to go see it again, which I never do these days.
 
KATE

Mary Elizabeth Winstead

MEW kicking ass and taking names. Eh, this was a lot of fun. More importantly, this was a fun watch due to MEW in particular. She just brings it. She doesn't look out of place in her action scenes at all. Very few actresses can pull it off. This was filled with plenty of cliches of the genre, plenty of ones we've seen before when it comes to the 'female assassin' angle, but even still, this was a fun to watch. I'm also a sucka for the 'hot female assassin' genre, so this was for me. This is a worthy watch for Mew alone.


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Kate is not subtle play on "Kite". Cult anime about an assassin chick, who got into killing business with help of a corrupt guardian. Many similar story beats, only with style over substance flair of John Wick. Half-decent fighting choreography at times, but other than that it's so lacking anything original, that in the end it felt like waste of time.

I should stop watching Netflix.
 
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Copshop


A true junk food film from start to finish. This was Joe Carnahan pretty much doing a grimy 70s style exploitation thriller much in the same vein as John Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13 and Bruce Malmuth's Nighthawks. They do a phenomenal job letting you piece together the whole story before sh** hits the fan between Gerard Butler & Frank Grillo who are incredible in this. One of the biggest surprises performance wise is Alexis Louder who technically gets first billing playing the rookie cop and you'll be wanting her to be in everything from now on. The other one is Toby Huss who finally getting his shine in here from playing character actors all these years by playing a straight up psychopathy who's delivering a Joker level performance. Production wise, they make great use of the police station that becomes a battlefield at one point and the cinematography is on point throughout. Overall, while I hear this isn't the version Frank Grillo & Joe Carnahan wanted, this was still a big surprise and it so much fun. Hopefully there's a directors cut down the line.
4/5
 
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Copshop


A true junk food film from start to finish. This was Joe Carnahan pretty much doing a grimy 70s style exploitation thriller much in the same vein as John Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13 and Bruce Malmuth's Nighthawks. They do a phenomenal job letting you piece together the whole story before sh** hits the fan between Gerard Butler & Frank Grillo who are incredible in this. One of the biggest surprises performance wise is Alexis Louder who technically gets first billing playing the rookie cop and you'll be wanting her to be in everything from now on. The other one is Toby Huss who finally getting his shine in here from playing character actors all these years by playing a straight up psychopathy who's delivering a Joker level performance. Production wise, they make great use of the police station that becomes a battlefield at one point and the cinematography is on point throughout. Overall, while I hear this isn't the version Frank Grillo & Joe Carnahan wanted, this was still a big surprise and it so much fun. Hopefully there's a directors cut down the line.
4/5

I’ve been really looking forward to to this, glad to hear you enjoyed it. :yay::up:

Didn’t know about this not being the film Grillo and Carnahan had in mind. Very interesting!
 
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Cry Macho


I feel like a lot of people are gonna give this a pass because it's Clint Eastwood, but this was a very stilted and static neo-western that tries to be meditative and character driven about the yesteryear of cowboys and about Clint Eastwood himself. It suffers from the filmmaking, the melodrama of it all, and the predictability of the script and bland (sometimes awful) performances aside from Natalia Traven who I thought was great. The movie almost plays like a bad Westworld episode where some old white guy is living out his fantasy one last time. I will say there are some interesting parts that does kinda work even if the movie as a whole doesn't. Overall, it was pretty lackluster. This was more or less like Clint Eastwood's later films where the one-take filmmaking ultimately hurts the film.
1.5/5
 
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Malignant

Love it just as much the 2nd time around. It gave me even more appreciation to James Wan's direction and camera work even though I knew the twist going in. Also between Malignant and We Summon the Darkness, Maddie Hasson seems to really work well with horror.
4/5


31 Day Horror Marathon 2021
Day 1 | Malignant (4/5) (REWATCH)


 
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Bingo Hell

A really surprisingly well made campy B horror that deals with themes of gentrification that centers around a group of elderly folks of various ethnicities going to a bingo hall that is destroying the town. The director, Gigi Saul Guerrero, did a phenomenal job using a creative style that feels like a cross between Sam Raimi, Edgar Wright, and an episode from Are you Afraid of the Dark? It has a lot of stylish neon flair that helps emphasize the story and help make it more fun and exciting when the older folks start kicking ass. Adriana Barraza plays the lead abuela and they do a great job giving her a lot of personality that helps carry the film... also Richard Brake as the scene chewing villain was a great choice. Overall, despite some little problems I have with the pacing and moments, it was a mostly well done and fun B horror flick and I'm curious to see where Gigi Saul Guerrero goes from here.
3.5/5


31 Day Horror Marathon 2021
Day 1 | Malignant (4/5) (REWATCH)
Day 2 | Bingo Hell (3.5/5)

 
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Venom: Let There Be Carnage


If this doesn't want to make you wanna buy a Sony Bravia OLED TV, then I don't know what will.

An absolute nothing burger of a film that truly felt like it came out of the darkness of the late 90s & early 2000s comic book era like Electra, Spawn, and Catwoman far more than the original Venom film. There's absolutely nothing going on in this... only scenes that they throw at the screen and see what sticks. The plot is entirely made up of bad quips, annoying couples bickering, and eye rolling action set pieces that all seemed intentionally bad, but it really isn't. I can't tell if Tom Hardy is phoning it in or if he's intentionally sleepwalking in this. Woody Harrelson seems to be doing a comic book version of Natural Born Killers with Naomie Harris, who I guess understood the assignment, but it still didn't work. They also have Michelle Williams and Stephen Graham slumming it and doing some wild sh** for a good payday. If I had to say something positive, it would probably be some of Andy Serkis's direction and the cinematography by Robert Richardson. Overall, it's a waste of time even if you enjoyed it ironically and the end credits is truly something I wish didn't happen.
1.5/5
 
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Black as Night

Pretty good vampire flick that has something to say even if it's not really subtle about it. The movie pretty much took the Buffy route, but set it in New Orleans and really use the city to tell the story. I did enjoy the aesthetic of the vampires and some of the lore that they change up a bit to pretty decent effect. Along with Buffy comparisons, this does have a lot of 90s teen horror cliches that kinda work here even though they're so trite... it almost feels like it came from Tales from the Hood or even Bones to less of an extent. It also feels like a pilot to a series that they were working on but instead made it into a standalone film. I thought Asjha Cooper, who plays the lead, was the best part about the movie and does a lot to help carry everyone else. Overall, decent but it could have been better.
3/5


31 Day Horror Marathon 2021
Day 1 | Malignant (4/5) (REWATCH)
Day 2 | Bingo Hell (3.5/5)
Day 3 | Black as Night (3/5)

 
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Demonic

Great concept but it flounders on the execution. This is basically Neill Blomkamp's The Cell with a little bit of Prince of Darkness and A Scanner Darkly thrown in but none of what it's trying to do necessarily works as the film was going. Maybe the pandemic was to blame, but there's a lot of hallow scenes that doesn't amount to much. I will say that I thought Carly Pope did a good job despite its problems and I did think the story with the mother did work. Overall, while I'm glad that Neill Blomkamp went back to the drawing board and do something different with a much smaller budget, it just didn't completely work.
2/5



31 Day Horror Marathon 2021
Day 1 | Malignant (4/5) (REWATCH)
Day 2 | Bingo Hell (3.5/5)
Day 3 | Black as Night (3/5)
Day 3 | Demonic (2021) (2/5)

 
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A Classic Horror Story

A very self conscious Italian horror flick that takes its influences to heart. It's one that is fully aware it is borrowing from various horror films ranging from Texas Chainsaw Massacre to Midsommar much like the Italian ripoffs from yesteryear and puts its own twist to it. It's got some incredible direction and camera work that is visually stunning. Really enjoyed the performances and between this and Revenge, Matilda Lutz is pretty much a certified scream queen. Overall, I really dug it and it's worth checking out if you're a horror fan.
4/5



31 Day Horror Marathon 2021
Day 1 | Malignant (4/5) (REWATCH)
Day 2 | Bingo Hell (3.5/5)
Day 3 | Black as Night (3/5)
Day 4 | Demonic (2021) (2/5)
Day 5 | A Classic Horror Story (4/5)

 
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V/H/S/94

A great return to form to the VHS franchise after Viral failed to live up to the first two. There isn't one bad short in here except for the lame wraparound/frame narrative segment which seems constant throughout all the VHS films.

Storm Drain has a great hook where you follow a reporter trying to get her story highlight the homeless issue that'll get her name out there. I really enjoyed how Chloe Okuno directed it and Anna Hopkins did a great job with her performance.

The Empty Wake has a very simple concept about strange happenings in a funeral home during a wake and where it goes is really interesting and some really well done effects. Simon Barrett shockingly directed this one after the kinda lame frame narrative segment from V/H/S/2.

The Subject is batsh** insane in all the right ways and my guy Timo Tjahjanto, who can't do anything wrong at this point, really wanted to make a Robocop meets Resident Evil/Silent Hill movie. The action and gore in this is insane and it rivals his Safe Haven segment from V/H/S/2. This segment makes you want Hollywood to get him to do a big budget video game adaptation and it's worth checking out this anthology film for this part alone.

Terror is the last of the main segments and it's the one that keeps you guessing the most. Ryan Prows pretty much made a found footage movie that centers on a white supremacist militia in 94 where you follow them planning something horrific. Don't wanna give away much about how this ends, but all I have to say it's sweet karma.

Overall, I loved it. It's probably the strongest set of shorts out of the series of them despite the wraparound being lackluster again.
4/5

31 Day Horror Marathon 2021
Day 1 | Malignant (4/5) (REWATCH)
Day 2 | Bingo Hell (3.5/5)
Day 3 | Black as Night (3/5)
Day 4 | Demonic (2021) (2/5)
Day 5 | A Classic Horror Story (4/5)
Day 6 | V/H/S/94 (4/5)

 
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The Boy Behind the Door

A pretty decent thriller that tackles child abduction in a cat and mouse way set almost entirely in one house. I will say it starts off pretty dark, but at a certain point there's a death that almost feels comical and I wasn't sure if that was intentional or not.The first half gets a bit repetitive, but once the twist arrives, the 2nd half becomes a lot more fascinating. There's also a direct homage to The Shining that I kinda dug even if it was so deliberate. I'll say the kid actors they got here did a great job performance wise and where it ends is pretty good. Overall, it's a solid thriller that makes you interested to see what's next for the filmmakers.
3/5

31 Day Horror Marathon 2021
Day 1 | Malignant (4/5) (REWATCH)
Day 2 | Bingo Hell (3.5/5)
Day 3 | Black as Night (3/5)
Day 4 | Demonic (2021) (2/5)
Day 5 | A Classic Horror Story (4/5)
Day 6 | V/H/S/94 (4/5)
Day 7 | The Boy Behind the Door (3/5)

 
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Madres

A pretty decent film where the supernatural horror elements takes the backseat for some real world terror. It works best as a drama where you follow the two main leads uncover a conspiracy and the cultural identity issues that Ariana Guerra's character faces. There aren't that many scary moments other than the main point of the movie and there's some very heavy handed moments at the very end that kinda removes all the subtlety this had going for it. Really dug some of the direction and camera work and I thought the relationship between Ariana Guerra and Tenoch Huerta felt genuine. Overall, it's a fine film that could have used the supernatural elements better to convey the message of the film.
3/5



31 Day Horror Marathon 2021
Day 1 | Malignant (4/5) (REWATCH)
Day 2 | Bingo Hell (3.5/5)
Day 3 | Black as Night (3/5)
Day 4 | Demonic (2021) (2/5)
Day 5 | A Classic Horror Story (4/5)
Day 6 | V/H/S/94 (4/5)
Day 7 | The Boy Behind the Door (3/5)
Day 8 | Madres (3/5)

 
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Best Sellers

A warm blanket of an indie dramedy that stars Aubrey Plaza and Michael Caine who are brilliant together. The plot almost feels identical to The End of the Tour that also a road trip movie of an author who's struggling and is at the end of their rope. It's got full of comedic bits that carries the film as well as the dramatic stuff even if every step this movie takes is conventional and done before. Overall, it's a worth seeing if you're down for a relaxing mood.
3.5/5
 

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